Sad day

Custos blesses Beit Mamilla

It was a sad but in a way happy morning. I received a phone call at 7am from our cook ... he's in hospital for treatment for terminal cancer. I had tried to visit him several times in his house in the Old City but he was in hospital ... and then I didn't have time to travel there. But this morning he called and said he wanted to see me. I just dressed and left immediately ... had to borrow some money for the transport there.

I didn't know where the oncology depart. was at Hadassah Hospital so I had to ask around for help. Went around in circles till I found it. He was awake and eating some breakfast ... something he had not done for the past 3 days when he slipped between consciousness and unconsciousness. We spoke for 2 hours ... recalling old times when he worked in our kitchen for 8 years. Every year he would cook up a special dish for my birthday and every Christmas his wife who is a pastry chef would bake me a fruitcake. And of course the annual cheesecake for my feast day. It was sad ... the cancer had been very aggressive. But still it was good to have met him again and to reassure him that all will be well with his children ... the youngest is less than a year old. We pray and wish him the best.

I left feeling confused with mixed feelings ... seeing how fragile life is ... that I bumped into a very large russian nurse who growled "Use your eyes when you walk".

Comfortable rooms at Best Mamilla

Yesterday afternoon I went to the blessing of our new hostel ... a boutique style bed only facilities in an old wing of the Mamilla convent belonging to the St. Vincent de Paul sisters. They call it Beit Mamilla ... and I found out that Mamilla (which is also the name of the neighborhood) is a shortened form of Maximilla ... at least that's what the Crusaders thought .... apparently there was a byzantine church and then a crusader church built over it in the area of the convent devoted to St. Maximilla. Anyway the new facility is small, with enough rooms for 20 people. It has 2 kitchens ... every handy. And the location of course is superb ... right in the middle between the Old City and the New. You have to try staying there ... it's worth it.